"Charlie."
Charlie looked up at the voice and frowned. If it was anyone else he could have handled it. But no. It had to be Matthew. The lost golden child. "Leave me alone."
Matthew looked through the bars with pity. He hated seeing the pathetic state his brother was in. His head hurt. These headaches were getting more frequent. And the flashes made it worse. He's seeing things he knows aren't there. "It hurts seeing you like this."
"Then why did you put me here?" Charlie snarled.
"You stole the cosmic crown! You killed 200 Watchers including our father! You paused the entire Omniverse! Those crimes are unforgivable!" Matthew snapped.
"But not for the Golden Child's favorite toy huh?" Charlie raised a brow. "He split the damn Omniverse and got nothing!"
Matthew grit his teeth. "This isn't about Matthieu. It's about you."
"Sure. The Golden Child is going to lecture me on ethics. Just. Like. Dad. He was always talking about how amazing you were and how much power you had! And then you came back. And suddenly I was irrelevant." Charlie glared through the bars. "I'm done talking to you Golden Child."
Matthew swiveled on his toes. There was no use. Charlie wasn't going to reason with him. "Fine."
Matthew clenched his fists as he walked up the stairs from the dungeon. The echo of his shoes was far too loud. It's never like this. He needed rest. His head was killing him...
Tik... tik... tik... tik...
Matthew's ears ring with the ticking noise. It's the only thing he can think of. He toke a deep breath and walked into the meeting hall. And there he is... The Virus.
Impossible. He defeated the Virus years ago. He launched across the table and attacked. Blood roars in his ears. He can't see anything but the color red. Blood. The Virus never bled. He didn't have blood to bleed. The Virus's mouth moves but he doesn't hear words. His body goes limp in Matthew's hold. His eyes roll back.
Someone pulls him away. He struggles in the hold and shakes his head. His vision clears. The red around his vision is gone. He looks down where the Virus was. Instead he see's Matthieu. Taylor is crouched next to him trying to get a response. There's screaming somewhere.
"-tthew! What has gotten into you?" Karmas face is full of confusion and worry. "What happened in the dungeons?" His grip loosens a bit.
"What-?" Matthew looked around. His head is throbbing. There's blood on his hands. Matt's blood. He attacked Matt. The Virus was never here. It had to be a trick.
Matthew yanked his arms out of Karma's hold and opened a portal before ducking through, leaving the castle in chaos.